IN THE AMERICAN DESEET 119 



They all sat with their eyes fixed on the hole, out of 

 which a little head came peeping. It did not see the 

 snake, but it did see the settlers, and did not seem to 

 like the look of them, for there it was, and there it 

 clearly meant to stay. Suddenly the dead leaves of the 

 wood began to rustle violently, and out dashed another 

 squirrel at its topmost speed, making for its home in the 

 tree. Twenty feet behind a long yellow pine-weasel was 

 in full chase. 



The squirrel could think of nothing but the enemy 

 behind, and never heeded any possible danger in front, 

 yet, if it had only looked that way, it would have seen some- 

 thing more dreadful even than a pine-weasel. The rattle- 

 snake had suddenly swelled to twice its natural size ; his 

 mouth was opened so wide that the lower jaw touched 

 his throat, and his poisoned fangs were bare. As the 

 squirrel flashed past him up the stem, the snake ap- 

 peared to move his head slightly, but so little that it did 

 not seem even to have touched the squirrel. Yet some- 

 how, before the squirrel had reached the first branch, it 

 began to climb more slowly, and in another moment 

 stopped altogether. It swayed from side to side as if it 

 had been seized with giddiness, then its claws gave way, 

 and it fell dead into the jaws of the serpent. 



The weasel, who in its headlong chase had very nearly 

 rushed upon the same fate, stopped at a little distance, 

 hissing and growling, and evidently half inclined to 

 fight the snake, but at length it decided that this would 

 be very unwise, so, with a final snarl, it marched off into 

 the woods. 



When the last hair of the weasel's tail had vanished 

 round a tree, the snake uncoiled himself, and licked the 

 body of the squirrel well over, before swallowing it head 

 foremost. 



He was still engaged in this operation when a great 

 creeper with scarlet flowers, hanging about twenty feet 

 above the head of the rattle-snake, began to move in a 



